Sleepless Nights
by ComicConDetox
Summary: Charles Xavier is haunted by the minds of his dying friends. He cannot help them and it is driving him crazy. Hank must find a way to save the professor before it consumes him. Set in between X-Men First Class and Days of Future Past. Character death.


Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men.

 _Italics mean speaking telepathically_

Regular quotations means out loud

Aron

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Charles Xavier watched through the window as snow fell to the ground. This was the first winter since the students and teachers were drafted for the Vietnam War and the only person remaining was Hank McCoy. Sean and Alex were among the first to leave. Charles would use Cerebro to keep in contact with them but it became harder and harder to keep in touch with the two men. He had recently found out that the two mutants had been separated. Charles knew that Alex could handle himself but he was worried about Sean. The worry would not stop. Charles had a feeling in his stomach that something bad was going to happen to the young man.

 _Hank are you there?_ Charles asked telepathically.

 _Yes. Do you need me?_

 _If you aren't busy._

A minute passed before Hank walked into his room.

"Charles what is it?" he asked.

"We need to find a way to pull Sean from this war. He's in danger I can feel it."

"How? We've lost all of our CIA contacts and it's not like we can fly him back," Hank tried to explain.

"He's not cut out for war," Charles told him.

"Charles he's been in battles before. Against mutants no less; hell he survived against Erik. Sean is powerful and he's been through worse. I know it hurts knowing that they're out there and we're in here but there is nothing that we can do for them. We just need to focus on finding a way to reopen the school. We can help mutants that are confused or in danger due to their powers."

Charles looked up at his friend and nodded his head. He knew that Hank was right but that didn't mean he didn't feel useless. Hank sat down beside Charles. They sat and watched as the snow piled up on the mansions lawn.

"How long has it been snowing?" Hank asked breaking the silence.

"An hour," Charles replied. He knew that the scientist was just trying to keep Charles from worrying too much.

"Charles why don't you get some rest? It's already one in the morning and you haven't been sleeping well."

Charles was about to protest but he could feel how exhausted he was and decided that it was best. "Do you need help getting into bed?"

"No Hank I can do this on my own. Thank you."

Hank patted Charles on the back and left shutting the door behind him.

Charles wheeled himself towards his bed and took a deep breath before lifting himself up and into it. For the first few months he had needed help getting into bed as well as doing simple tasks. Now though, Charles had learned to adapt to his situation. He found new ways of doing things and with the help of his new upper-body strength, Charles was able to lift himself. In a way Charles evolved. As he thought about evolving, his mind was brought to Darwin. Charles had not known Darwin for long but he knew that the mutant was brave. Alex had felt responsible for the mans death. Charles laid in bed, eyes closed and thought about Sean with worry.

All Charles could see were soldiers in pain. He could feel their pain and fear. He could feel them dying. Their loneliness. He could hear their cries for help and his ears rang from gunfire. He heard the sonic scream that Charles had heard so many times before. More screams. There was then fighting and Charles felt someone hit him in the head with their gun.

"Professor help me!" Sean screamed suddenly.

Charles shot up in bed and gasped for air. He turned on the light and got in his wheelchair. Without fully thinking Charles made his way to the basement and towards the upgraded Cerebro. He placed on his helmet and turned on the machine.

Focusing on Sean, Charles waited for Cerebro to locate the mutant. Charles saw Sean being dragged by two soldiers. He could see through Seans eyes that the soldiers were American. Charles could tell that Sean felt betrayed since he knew these men. His comrades were now dragging him across hostile territory. Fear radiated off of Sean and Charles tried to hide his own fear.

"Calm your mind," he said to himself. He began to concentrate better on the situation before him.

 _Sean what is happening?_ Charles asked.

 _Professor! I used my powers to save another soldier yesterday and he outted me a few hours ago. I don't know where they're taking me._

The young mutant was in a panic and Charles didn't blame him.

 _Can you escape? Use your powers if you must._

 _I wish I could. They've gagged me. I can't scream and unless there is another way for me to go sonic on them I am shit out of luck. Please help me._

Charles slammed his fist on his leg in frustration.

 _Sean just keep your mind open for me. I'm going to find a way to stop them_ , Charles promised.

 _Okay but please hurry. I don't want to—_ The connection was lost so abruptly that Charles had to rip off his helmet. His heart was racing with fear and Charles placed the helmet back on. He tried to find the connection to Sean but it was gone. There was nothing for him to latch onto. Charles screamed in anger and then tried to find Alex. The man was on the other side of the country in the middle of a battle. Knowing that Alex would not be able to help Charles spent the rest of the night trying to find Sean. He kept trying to re-establish a connection with the young mutant but it was no use. While searching, Charles could feel the minds of all the humans and mutants around where Sean was taken. All of them were afraid. Some were dying. Others were screaming for help as their bodies were blown to pieces. He could feel them dying in his mind. Charles could feel tears dripping down his face but that did not stop him. He needed to find Sean.

Charles was not sure of how much time had passed before he felt the connection open again.

 _Sean are you there?_ Charles asked desperately.

 _Yeah. My head hurts._

Charles could feel confusion through his connection. He looked around Seans surroundings and saw that the man was strapped down to a table. He turned Seans head and saw medical tools. Syringes, scalpels and even bone cutters were spread out on the tray beside him. There were more tools but Charles could not focus enough to make out what they were. Charles could feel Sean shaking with fear.

 _Charles I hate to admit it but I am freaking out right now_ , Sean told him in a shaky voice.

 _I know Sean._

 _Can you get me out of this?_

Before he could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Sean turned his head and saw a tall man in a white lab coat standing near the medical tools.

"Sean Cassidy is it?" the man asked while placing latex gloves on his hands. "Oh right you can't talk. Just nod."

Sean nodded his head yes.

"I hear you have quite an interesting power."

 _Charles what do I do?_ Sean asked him. Charles didn't answer. He didn't have an answer.

Sean shook his head no. The man in the coat laughed.

"Sean I know that you have a power. Your friend told me. That's why I had you brought here. Do you know why you're here?" The man asked.

Sean shook his head no. Nervous sweat dripped from Seans forehead.

"Simple Mr. Cassidy. I'm going to dissect you."


End file.
